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Predictions for the Trump

It’s a new world: Donald Trump’s world. As 2017 hits, we’re going to see the U.S. government’s attitude towards a range of technologies change, whether it be about a lighter touch on regulation or a harsher look at companies that import heavily from China.

I hate making stock predictions. I’m going to try to stick to what I think you should expect and do, as U.S. tech consumers, to prepare for 2017. For each prediction, I’m also trying to provide an action you should take to put yourself in the best position for the future.

1. Sprint and T-Mobile will merge.

Sprint’s stock jumped after the election on the assumption that Sprint and T-Mobile, which want to merge, will do so. The merger has been blocked so far by Obama’s team, and it has been widely expected that a Republican FCC will let it go through. There could be an announcement as soon as January.

While Trump has come out against the Time Warner/AT&T merger, he said he’s offended by media consolidation, not broadband consolidation; a pure wireless merger may not spark his ire.

The outcome will be the end of the current wireless price wars. As we’ve seen in Canada, countries with three major players, and no requirement to share networks with third parties, tend not to have aggressive pricing. We should expect to see wireless costs in the U.S. normalize at the AT&T/Verizon levels, bringing home more profits to investors in the combined Sprint/T-Mobile.

What you should do: Lock in a really good rate plan soon, because prices may go up. Study low-cost virtual carriers like Ting, Republic Wireless and Walmart Family Mobile, which may still offer deals.

2. Verizon 5G will be the next big broadband competitor.

This prediction wraps together a few elements. Republicans have been hostile to municipal broadband, and a key Trump adviser has indicated that he’s against “set-asides” in upcoming spectrum auctions, which would prevent Verizon from snapping up most of the available airwaves. All that said, the sleepy cable monopolies, with their constant rising prices, are still ripe for disruption. Verizon’s home 5G launch in 2017 will be boosted by big wins in upcoming spectrum auctions, giving you one more strong choice for home broadband going forward, and fulfilling the promise that Fios never did.